Remote Sensing for Space Sciences
Pioneering research at the intersection of astronomy and space domain awareness. Led by Professors Fabien Baron and Stuart Jefferies, we develop cutting-edge instrumentation and algorithms for high-resolution imaging from Earth to orbit.
Life in our Group
Experience the daily excitement of cutting-edge research
Your PhD Journey Starts Here
Join a dynamic, internationally-connected research team with unprecedented opportunities
Dual PhD Program
Unique opportunity: PhD in Astronomy from GSU + PhD in Astronomy, Astrophysics & Space Science from University of Rome. International experience included.
Fully Funded
$5M+ in active grants. All PhD students receive a stipend and tuition waiver — and we work hard to supplement that through fellowships, internships, and unique research opportunities.
Build Real Instruments
Design, construct, and deploy your own instruments. Work with cutting-edge facilities. Publish and present at top conferences.
Hear From Our Students
What current students and alumni say about their experience in our group
You do not need to arrive as a finished product, but you do need the willingness to learn and unlearn continuously. You will pursue bold, unconventional, and genuinely transformative ideas, not just incremental ones. As a graduate student, RSSS will empower you every step of the way. Stuart has been a supportive and deeply compassionate advisor, qualities that are rare to find alongside the highest standards of scientific rigor.
Working with the RSSS group has provided me with an incredibly unique PhD experience. Prof. Jefferies always encouraged me to apply for external opportunities, which allowed me to spend a year as an intern at JPL and pursue a dual PhD program with GSU and the University of Rome Sapienza. Although the RSSS members may not always be in the same place physically, they have been a great support system throughout my graduate career.
The RSSS Lab gave me the opportunity to try new ideas, learn new skills, and interact with the broader community outside of GSU. I felt that the work I was doing in the lab was truly novel and impactful, which allowed me to fast track my PhD in 4 years and make crucial connections that helped me land a job doing exactly what I want to do.
The RSSS lab can be challenging, testing your resilience and independence in many different ways. Simultaneously, it will be the absolute coolest group of people you will ever work with. The team is supportive, they genuinely care about your well-being, and they're brilliant—they value your insight as much as you will value theirs. You'll work hard and be stressed, but you'll work to solve the most exciting problems you've ever encountered and will accomplish things you never thought possible. I believe pursuing my Ph.D. in the RSSS group made me a far better scientist than I could have become anywhere else. I attribute an incredible amount of my success to the advising, connections, and opportunities unique to the RSSS group. Knowing everything I know now, I'd join this group again with no hesitation.
My experience with the RSSS team was one of the most rewarding parts of my graduate career at GSU. We were trusted to take ownership of meaningful challenges and given the freedom to pursue our research at our own pace, while still benefiting from a strong support system of advisors and peers. The lab culture made the hard parts feel exciting rather than intimidating, and the moments of triumph genuinely worth celebrating. This balance of independence and collaboration made the work rigorous and fun, and it was especially rewarding to develop expertise I could share to support others' research.
More testimonials from our alumni will be added as they come in.
Unparalleled Opportunities
Our students gain exposure far beyond typical academic research
Government Partnerships
Work directly with Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA scientists, and other government agencies on funded research projects.
International Experience
Unique dual PhD program with University of Rome. Spend time in Italy, collaborate with European scientists, earn two PhDs simultaneously.
Industry Connections
Collaborate with private companies (MorphOptic, Advisory Ltd, Eddy Company) and Georgia Tech Research Institute on cutting-edge instrumentation.
Build Real Hardware
Design, construct, and deploy your own instruments. ARES facility enables rapid prototyping from concept to field deployment.
Cross-Disciplinary Training
Part of GSU's Imaging Hub - collaborate across astronomy, physics, computer science, mathematics & statistics, biology, psychology, and chemistry.
Career Paths
Alumni at NASA, national observatories, research institutions, and private industry. Multiple career pathways, not just academia.
Global Research Community
Regularly host visiting students from leading institutions worldwide. Work alongside peers from Italy, Spain, and beyond. Build an international professional network from day one.
Research at the Frontier
Two complementary branches of remote sensing, unified by innovative techniques
Astronomy
We push the limits of ground-based astronomical observations, studying everything from solar oscillations to the structure of giant planets.
- Helioseismology and giant planet seismology
- High-resolution imaging through atmospheric turbulence
- Novel instrumentation for adaptive optics
- Image reconstruction algorithms
Space Domain Awareness
Our techniques support national security through ultra-high-resolution imaging and characterization of satellites in Earth orbit.
- Satellite surveillance and characterization
- Imaging through strong atmospheric turbulence
- AO-compensated optical communication systems
- Real-time image restoration algorithms
Meet the Team
Co-led by Professors Baron and Jefferies, our international team spans researchers, engineers, and students
Fabien Baron
Fabien's expertise spans optical interferometry, image reconstruction algorithms, and stellar astrophysics, with contributions to some of the highest-resolution stellar images ever obtained.
View Full Bio →
Stuart M. Jefferies
Stuart pioneered multiframe blind deconvolution and time-distance helioseismology, with 40 years of experience in the field. His expertise spans high-resolution imaging and space domain awareness, with over 20 years building instruments and 30+ years running experiments in Antarctica. He is currently interested in developing the next generation of extremely large optical telescopes.
Visit Personal Page →
Dmitriy Shcherbik
Dmitriy's research focuses on experiment automation, instrument control systems, and software for data acquisition and post-processing. He employs a rigorous methodology — numerical modeling to lab validation to observatory implementation — ensuring robust and well-validated results.
Douglas Hope
Doug's research spans high-resolution imaging of faint stellar companions, active galactic nuclei with JWST, asteroids, and Jovian moons. He led the first imaging of satellites during full daylight — a significant technical milestone with direct implications for space domain awareness.
Varun Chaturmutha
Varun's research focuses on the dynamics of the solar atmosphere. He develops signal processing pipelines to analyze multi-height Doppler velocity (seismic) data and models the propagation of acoustic-gravity waves. He is currently demonstrating how methods in solar atmospheric seismology can be migrated to distant stars by utilizing Sun-as-a-star observations and numerical simulations.
Lexi Azoulay
Lexi's research focuses on high contrast imaging systems for both ground and space-based observatories, working on coronagraphic and non-coronagraphic methods for imaging closely spaced objects (CSOs) such as exoplanets, satellites, and binary stars. Her research has led her to NASA JPL for multiple summer internships, where she works on coronagraph development for the Habitable Worlds Observatory on the In-Air Coronagraph Testbed (IACT). Within the RSSS group she develops numerical simulations and instruments for imaging CSOs, as well as Adaptive Optics systems for Hard Labor Creek Observatory.
Billy O'Brien
Billy's research focuses on advancing astronomical discovery and space domain awareness through novel optical instrumentation, observational techniques, and unique telescope architectures. He combines astronomy, engineering, and computational methods to design imaging systems that improve detection, characterization, and tracking of objects in space.
Megan Peatt
Megan's research interests have evolved from Wolf-Rayet stars in binaries to Young Stellar Objects (YSOs), focusing on their circumstellar disks which form planets and determine subsequent solar system environments. Using high-resolution interferometry and image reconstruction techniques, she aims to understand disk mechanics and planet formation processes.
Suyash Dhungana
Suyash's research focuses on improving the restoration of hyperspectral imagery acquired through atmospheric turbulence. He assists in evaluating deconvolution algorithms developed by the RSSS group by running large-scale simulations and analyzing their reconstruction quality under varied atmospheric conditions.
Trinity Baker
Trinity's research involves characterizing atmospheric turbulence at Georgia State's Hard Labor Creek Observatory.
Joshua Dulle
Joshua's research focuses on wavefront sensing from focal plane images.
Ty Tidrick
Develops software infrastructure for high-performance computing. Currently building containerized environments to run imaging code on computing clusters, and optimizing software for GPU acceleration to process images faster. Future work will focus on data pipelines to handle massive telescope datasets—capturing, storing, analyzing, and visualizing results.
Cheryl Marshall
Cheryl's work focuses on wavefront manipulation for high-resolution imaging.
International Research Collaborations
We supervise and collaborate with PhD and Masters students from premier institutions worldwide
International research collaborations: We supervise and collaborate with PhD and Masters students from leading institutions in Spain (IAC, Universidad de La Laguna) and Italy (University of Rome). Students conduct research with us while earning degrees from their home institutions—including 2 successful PhDs, with one graduate now at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research.
26 Georgia State Alumni Working Worldwide
MIT Lincoln Laboratory • Space Dynamics Laboratory • University of Notre Dame
View GSU Alumni Network →Your Skills Portfolio
We deliberately train generalists. Our graduates leave with a broad, deep skill set that makes them competitive across academia, government, and industry — not just one track.
Optical Design & Instrument Building
Design and build custom imaging systems from scratch. Our students go from concept to working hardware — a hands-on depth that purely computational programs cannot offer.
Algorithms, Simulations & Data
Programming, signal processing, numerical simulations, and data pipelines. The computational fluency to handle massive datasets and develop novel algorithms.
Field Deployment
Deploy instruments in real-world environments — from our own observatory to Air Force and NASA facilities. Experience that translates directly to operational roles.
Government & Agency Collaboration
Work directly alongside scientists and engineers at the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA Ames, and other agencies. Build professional networks before you graduate.
Our students have completed internships at JPL, AFRL Maui, AFRL Albuquerque, and KBR — before they graduate.
Fellowship Proposal Writing
Students are encouraged to write proposals for independent fellowships — better stipends, greater freedom. You do the work; we provide the map. Fallon Konow's NASA FINESST fellowship is one example.
Scientific Communication
We actively coach students to become effective communicators — presenting at top conferences, writing for publication, and explaining complex work to diverse audiences including government sponsors.
Complete Research Pipeline
From concept to world-class deployment: three facilities that give students unparalleled hands-on access
Advanced Optics Laboratory
State-of-the-art facility where students design, build, and test custom instruments from scratch. Our lab enables rapid prototyping and iteration—go from concept to working hardware in weeks, not years.
Design and fabricate your own imaging systems and sensors
Test ideas quickly before full deployment
ARES and other flagship projects were built here by PhD students — facility supported by two DOD DURIP awards
Hard Labor Creek Observatory
Fabien Baron, Co-Group Lead, serves as Observatory Director. Our students have 24/7/365 access to a professional 0.7m PlaneWave telescope — no competing for time, no waiting months for observations.
Professional-grade instrumentation with modern capabilities, 50 miles east of Atlanta in Hard Labor Creek State Park
Test your instruments and ideas immediately — no waiting for allocated time slots. Remote operation available from anywhere.
Monthly public nights from March to October bring Georgia residents to the observatory to observe the night sky and meet professional astronomers. Our students help staff these events — excellent outreach and communication experience.
Multiple Deployment Pathways
Deploy your validated techniques to premier facilities through our extensive partnerships. Students gain access to world-class observational capabilities that most researchers never experience.
World's highest angular resolution interferometer at Mount Wilson Observatory, California
Access through Air Force Research Laboratory and NASA Ames partnerships
Work alongside government scientists and faculty at premier observatories
Deploy techniques to operational systems, not just proof-of-concept demonstrations
Our Research Methodology
From scientific question to deployment on 8-meter telescopes
Identify interesting problems in imaging and develop novel approaches to solve them
One of our major strengths: Develop sophisticated computational models to test ideas and predict performance before building hardware
Test simulation predictions with controlled experiments in our optics lab and ARES turbulence simulator
Upgrade hardware and test on real astronomical targets using our 0.7m telescope with 24/7 access—iterate rapidly based on results
Once validated on 0.7m, partner with Air Force and NASA Ames to deploy techniques on 3.5-8m class telescopes and CHARA Array
Most programs: Wait years for telescope time and hope your idea works
Our approach: Simulate → Validate → Test → Deploy. Prove your ideas work before committing resources.
In the News
Recent highlights | Full archive available from 2016
2026
WABE (NPR Atlanta)
GSU works to detect signs of life across the galaxies in collaboration with international space scientists
Listen to Interview (opens in new tab) →Georgia State News Hub
From Atlanta to Rome: A Georgia State astronomy student chases the sun across continents
Read Article (opens in new tab) →2025
11 Alive Atlanta
Segment with Chesley McNeil on GSU research exploring life beyond Earth
Watch Segment (opens in new tab) →WSB Radio Atlanta
GSU researchers launch new effort to see if there is life out there in the cosmos
Read Article (opens in new tab) →Newsbreak
Search for extraterrestrial life: GSU research featured
Georgia State News Hub
Is there anybody out there? New research initiative exploring life beyond Earth
Read Article (opens in new tab) →11 Consecutive Years of Media Coverage
39+ features since founding in 2016 — TV, print, radio, web, and international outlets
View Complete Archive (2016-2026) →Ready to Join Our Team?
We're actively recruiting motivated students — from undergraduates to PhD candidates. Reach out to either of our co-PIs to discuss research opportunities and the application process.
Prof. Fabien Baron
Georgia State University
25 Park Place, Atlanta, GA 30303